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When I put a new starter in the starter wires were so corroded that i had to splice new ones on with the connectors.
My grounds are all dirty.
I think it could be the ignition because it wouldn’t start off a push start or anything. I’ve never had a car that wouldn’t start off a bump.
Starter wiring and grounds can very definitely affect charging. Push starts became very difficult with the onset of electronic fuel injection, made even more difficult with distributor-less ignition. The injection and ignition take less current than the starter, but are not much more forgiving of voltage.
I doubt very much belt tension has anything to do with you problem
I just re assembled everything after cleaning my grounds and terminals with a new alternator and a new battery. But it’s followed by just a loud click and then nothing else. I’m completely lost now. (EDIT) I sat at flicked the key in the ignition and hit my clutch pedal hard. Car started up and now starts. Is this a sign of faulty ignition?
Last edited by TZNBrayden; Sep 12, 2023 at 01:37 AM.
Where is the load click coming from, is it originating in the interior of the car or from the engine bay? Troubleshooting a no crank problem is relatively easy, you have to verify the TDR relay is clicking on every time the key is turned to the start position of the Ignition switch. The TDR is located above the BCM in the passenger footwell area, and is the relay that sends power to energize the starter.
I had that clicking at times also. Like I have said before, I had many symptoms that drew me in different directions. I know the ignition switch seems intimidating. It is really not as hard as other things. Take your time and give it a look. Rule the ignition switch out. I do agree grounds can be a problem. After cleaning them all do the ignition switch. I spent a lot of money and most of the summer with my car sitting so I understand how frustrating this can be..
Where is the load click coming from, is it originating in the interior of the car or from the engine bay? Troubleshooting a no crank problem is relatively easy, you have to verify the TDR relay is clicking on every time the key is turned to the start position of the Ignition switch. The TDR is located above the BCM in the passenger footwell area, and is the relay that sends power to energize the starter.
It sounds like the starter clicking. But it’s one loud click which is what confuses me. It doesn’t do the rapid fire click, just that really loud one. It sounds like it’s in the engine bay for sure. I also just came back after letting it sit for the night and my battery has dropped to 6.8 volts. What would be drawing that much power in one day? i’m assuming this means my battery is bad now as well.
I had that clicking at times also. Like I have said before, I had many symptoms that drew me in different directions. I know the ignition switch seems intimidating. It is really not as hard as other things. Take your time and give it a look. Rule the ignition switch out. I do agree grounds can be a problem. After cleaning them all do the ignition switch. I spent a lot of money and most of the summer with my car sitting so I understand how frustrating this can be..
ignition switch is my plan for today. I just don’t get how my battery keeps drawing as well. less then 24 hours and dropped down to 6.8 volts. My headlights or any other lights aren’t on. What would draw that much power?
It's hard to know what is drawing your battery without testing. The first test is to disconnect the battery cable that provides power to the engine bay fuse box, this will leave only the alternator and starter power connected, check the battery after a few hours and verify that it did or did not get discharged. After insuring that the alternator and starter are not drawing down your battery, disconnect the power cable that provides power to the interior fuse box leaving only the engine bay fusebox connected to the battery and check the battery after a few hours, if the battery has discharged its something powered from that fuse box. The 3rd and final test is to connect the power lead to the interior fuse box and verify that battery does or doesn't discharge after a few hour's.
You can use this methode on how to locate the currentdrawing fuse course by (measuring millivolt(mV) above each fuse ,
When you measure fuses in the passenger footwell you must activate doorlock in passenger first , wait until body control module go to sleep (approx 15 min) and then measure voltage drop over each fuse in passenger footwell .
If nothing found you can at last you can verify if the generator (diodes) is draining by disconnecting the generator from battery.
I made a post a while back, but i’m still having problems. I had a charging system fault and put in a new starter. That fixed it for a second before the charging system went out again. I went in and got my battery tested and it came back as bad so I bought a new one. I also had the alternator tested at the same time and it came back as bad so I sent my alternator in to be warrantied as i had just replaced it 4 months earlier and it was bad. I put my new alternator in and it still is having problems starting so i take it to get tested and the battery is fried. I get a new battery and they test my alternator again and the brand new installed one comes back as bad. So in the past 6 months I have been through 1 starter, 2 alternators and 2 batteries. Is this just a series of bad luck that I have or is there something more serious that is the issue? This is what my alternator test is coming back as.
I Just wanted to come back to this. I am still having issues. My battery and alternator are testing fine now, And I have done a test that has helped me figure something out. My car always showed the charge system fault, but in this test I ran a jumper cable from the positive side of my battery to the positive on the alternator, I grounded the other one on the negative on the battery and on the alternator studs on that side. When I did that the charge system fault error went away, but It heated up the jumper cables like no other. Can anyone tell me what this means or what I should do next?
Put your meter on DC volts and measure these with the car running,
Between the alternator case and the negative post of the battery. If this voltage reads more than about 0.5V then check the negative cable running from the battery to the engine block.
Between the big alternator output post to the positive post of the battery. If this voltage reads more than about 0.5V then check the big cable that goes from the positive post of the alternator to the starter solenoid and the positive battery cable going from the battery to the starter solenoid.
